Though the overall economy has weakened in recent months, the office market generally lags behind. As a result, the South Florida office market improved in the third quarter, according to a report released today by Studley, as leasing activity rose 9.5 percent to 1.8 million square feet.
Most of that increase came from Miami, where leasing activity jumped 60.1 percent from the second quarter to 1.1 million square feet. The county’s Class A availability has fallen 2.4 percentage points in the last 12 months to 23.3 percent. Studley attributes Miami’s gains to the attractive new office developments in Brickell and Downtown Miami.
Nevertheless, the market still favors tenants. South Florida has 12.0 million square feet of available Class A space, more than 2.5 times what was available in 2006, and landlords continue to offer generous concessions.
The asking rents in South Florida average $27.33 per square-foot, and $31.81 for Class A space. In Miami, asking rents average $29.78, $5.10 more than the average asking price per square-foot in Broward and $4.65 greater than the average in Palm Beach County. — Adam Fusfeld